Cowabunga Carl
by AlyssaFelixa
Summary: Don's totally snowed under with his IT job, Raph's out every night, Leo's off in South America... I thought the least I could do was get a job, to help. They're only kids... How bad can it be?


**This is set a few months before the CGI film, whilst Leo was away. And I must apologise to any fellow Mikey fans - hey, it could be worse!**

**And Kitten630, PLEASE don't run out of the room when you read this…**

"Hello, you've reached Donnie, your friendly IT tech support, here to help you twenty-four hours a day, what can I do you for?...............Did you switch it on?"

I paused at the door, figuring I should probably wait until Don was finished working before I told him the good news. With any luck, pretty soon he wouldn't even need to do this job. Which was good, 'cause he sounded pretty sick of it.

"Okay, is the button on the side glowing?.................Yeah, you need to turn it on………………..The button turns it on……………….Just press the button………..I said, press it!"

_Donnie's getting a little snappy._ I thought. _Maybe I should get him some coffee? The dude drinks so much already, I'm surprised __**I'm**__ the hyper one._

"Wait, I just heard it come on…….No, that's the music you hear when it turns on……………No, that's the music you hear when it- I'm sorry, I didn't realise I was talking to a **three-year-old**!.....Hello?"

I heard a moan and a thump. I walked in to see Don resting his head on his desk.

"Hey bro, you want some coffee?"

Don made a muffled noise into the desktop that sounded a lot like a "yes".

"Okay man, I'll be right back."

I strolled into the kitchen and stuck the kettle on. Judging by the snores that were pretty much making the walls shake, Raph was asleep. _Man, Don's been getting less and less fun since he started this job. I'm just lucky I managed to sort mine out._

I looked at the postcards of jungles stuck on the fridge and sighed. _Leo, why'd you have to head off like that? I know Splinter wanted you to train, but couldn't you train here? Don's head's gonna explode if he keeps this job going._

I made Don's coffee and headed back to the workroom. Don was still flopped out over the desk, now snoring gently. _ Aww, he looks like a little geeky green angel. _I shook him gently. He swatted my hand away with a groan.

"Go '_way._ Don't wanna eat the penguin."

"Don, c'mon, wakey wakey_._"

"Five more minutes Daddy."

"What? I'm not your dad."

"Five more minutes Mommy."

I clapped a hand over my mouth to muffle my sniggers. "Come _on, _Don." I waved the coffee cup under his beak. "Smell that? _Coffee. _Rise and shine, bro."

At the word "coffee" Don blearily reached out and took the cup. I watched him drink with a smile. _I love the way he recharges while he drinks. He's like a robot powering itself up. Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-ping! The D-man is back in action!_

"Thanks bro." Donnie smiled at me. "I _really_ needed that."

"No problem, dude."

"I mean, why do these people buy computers if they don't even know how to turn them on?"

"Remember the time Leo blew up the microwave trying to plug it in?"

"Which time? It happened more than once." Donnie chuckled and then sighed. _He misses Leo. Shell, we ALL miss Leo… even Raph, much as he pretends to be this big mean toughie._

"Don?"

My big brother looked up at me suspiciously. "What'd you break?"

"Nothing bro. For once. But I know how hard you've been working with the whole leader thing, and I know our cash flow is kinda in the red, and well… I had a look in the papers, and there's loadsa people who want entertainers at children's parties, and…" I trailed off. Don was staring at me, open-mouthed.

"Dude, you keep your mouth open like that and a fly's gonna get in there."

Don blinked and shook himself. "Mikey, are you… offering to get a _job?"_

"Uh-huh."

I was suddenly bowled over by Don. At first I thought he was attacking me, but then I realised he was doing something he hadn't done in years – he was _hugging _me!

"Dude, relax, it's just a bit of pin money…"

"I don't care! I am _so _sick of this!"

"Yeah, okay, but I _can't breathe_!"

"…Oh. Sorry Mikey." Don clambered off me, looking sheepish. "So what are you going to do? I mean, they'll realise that you're not wearing a costume when they see your mouth moving."

"I got it all figured out. I'll send off for a giant turtle head, like the mascots at theme parks. Kids go _crazy _for them. And I've been checking the shopping channel – I'm _sorry _about those juicers, they just looked so cool, and they were on special offer, and I thought we could make smoothies and-" I broke off. Don was starting to give me evils. "Aaaaanyway, there's a site that sells fake stick-on zippers, so I can put one on my front like I'm wearing a turtle suit."

Don gaped at me. "You really have figured this all out, haven't you?"

"You betcha!"

"But… I mean, do you know how to entertain kids?"

I laughed. "Dude, relax. They're little kiddies. How hard can it be?"

**&&&&&**

I staggered out of the house, almost sobbing with relief. The van was parked outside, and I yanked the doors open and collapsed gratefully inside.

"Hey Mikey, how was your first da- what the shell?" Donnie jumped out of the driver's seat and scrambled to my side. I hadn't seen him look this shocked since the time I let a squirrel loose in his lab. "What happened?"

"Those kids…" I moaned. My throat was burning from when the fat kid had stood on it. "They're freaking _rabid._"

"They're eight years old."

"I don't care! I am _not _doing that again."

Don's face fell.

"Aw, come on dude, don't give me the puppy-dog eyes. I think they broke my arm!"

Don just looked at me.

"I'm not doing it. I'm not gonna look. Lalalalala, lalala, la."

I turned my face away, trying not to put too much weight on my busted arm, but I could still feel Don's gaze burning into my shell.

"Alright! I'll do it." Don perked up and smiled at me. "But you have to patch me up. And you gotta make Raph do my chores."

"Yeah, sure. I'll try, anyway."

"Whatever. Now can we please go home? I'm bleeding all over the floor!"  
Don smirked and clambered back into the driver's seat. _The things I do for this family…_


End file.
